New Children's Picture Book Explores Historic Fair Street In Guilford During Halloween

GUILFORD, CT — A new children's picture book about Fair Street in Guilford during Halloween is now available for purchase.

Ron McAdow, the author and illustrator of "Ghost Riders of Fair Street," lives in Lincoln, Mass., but has been a frequent visitor of Guilford to see family.

The inspiration for the book, which is about 30 pages, came when McAdow was trick-or-treating with his grandson on Fair Street several years ago, and McAdow teased the young boy that there were ghosts roaming about the historic street.

"He said, 'No, ghosts aren't real,' so I made a picture of the ghosts riding down Fair Street," McAdow told Patch in an interview this week. "Since then, we've had a running joke about it. I got the notion this summer that I could make up a book about it that was tipping a hat to the series of houses on Fair Street and also having some fun with this idea of ghosts."

The book follows three ghosts - a tiger, pirate, and elephant - who ride up Fair Street on their bicycles. While the ghosts are invisible to children, they betray their presence in several ways, McAdow said.

"'Ghost Riders of Fair Street' introduces us to a trio of not-scary ghosts pedaling by Fair Street’s distinctive houses. The text, in verse, travels up one side of the street and back down the other side—a whimsical celebration of Fair Street’s distinctive and well-kept architecture," McAdow said in an announcement about the book's release.

According to a self-guided tour of Fair Street posted to the Visit Guilford website, the historic street has been known as Fair Street since 1816. Guilford's founding fathers and many leading citizens made the street their home.

The houses along Fair Street have the most diverse styles of architecture of any street in town, and they bear the names of their builders and/or original owners.

Every structure is illustrated in McAdow's book, something he said was an "enjoyable" task.

"Like most of Guilford, the houses [on Fair Street] are kept with evident pride and care. The colors are carefully chosen and they all look good. It's obvious there's a lot of pride in the appearance of the neighborhood. I think Fair Street in that way stands for the towns in that part of Connecticut as a whole. They're old towns, so some of the houses are quite old, and some of them are newer," McAdow said.

McAdow said the book is for children, but it can be enjoyed by adults, too. He thanked Breakwater Books and Page Hardware and Appliance Co. in Guilford for carrying the book, which can also be purchased online on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

McAdow hopes readers will see the spirit of fun and experience the sense he had from trick-or-treating with his grandson in Guilford.

"There's a lot of that spirit of friendly neighborliness and a kind of outreach to the children," McAdow said. "It's really a reflection of that."

McAdow’s previous picture books include "How Dragons Got Senses" and "The Thunderstorm and Other Songs for Children."

His award-winning animated films are "Hank the Cave Peanut" and "Captain Silas". McAdow has also published two novels - "Ike" and "The Grove of Hollow Trees."